Feeding of rod-like articles



g- 1966 G. A. CRUICKSHANK 3,263,396

FEEDING OF ROD-LIKE ARTICLES Filed March 6, 1963 2 Sheets$heet 1 DVENTDE WAC/MM @WM%%-W Aug. 2, 1966 G. A. CRUICKSHANK 3,263,396

FEEDING OF ROD-LIKE ARTICLES Filed March 6, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENrOQ- United States Patent 0 3,263,396 FEEDING 0F ROD-LTKE ARTICLES Geoffrey Alexander Cruiekshanlr, Deptford, London, England, assignor to The Molins Organisation Limited Filed Mar. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 263,29 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 8, 1962, 8,969/ 62 1 Claim. (Cl. 53-436) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to the feeding of rod-like articles, such as cigarettes, and in particular to apparatus in which rows of rod-like articles are formed for transfer into an adjacent container.

In copending US. application Serial No. 234,592 there is disclosed apparatus for filling a container with cigarettes, comprising vertical vanes between which cigarettes are fed to form columns, and beneath which there is provided a horizontal base plate having flutes into which cigarettes drop from between the vanes, and arranged to reciprocate so that cigarettes received thereon can form two rows running transversely to their axes, in which a cigarette in the upper row rests centrally on and between two cigarettes of the lower row, the two rows then being transferred into an adjacent container by moving the cigarettes longitudinally. In an embodiment described in the above mentioned application, the cigarettes in a row thus formed and transferred are arranged to be spaced so that the axes of adjacent cigarettes in the row are separated by a distance equal to the diameter of the cigarettes multiplied by the square root of three, so that the cigarettes can be stacked in the container in a manner as disclosed in copending US. application Serial No. 225,213.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for feeding rod-like articles (e.g. cigarettes) in which rows of the rod-like articles are formed for transfer into an adjacent container, each row containing a desired number of articles and running transversely to their axes, comprising feed means to feed rod-like articles between substantially parallel downwardly sloping vanes so as to form columns of articles, support means to support the columns so that the articles therein form substantially horizontal rows, and transfer means (e.g. a pusher) to move the articles in adjacent rows longitudinally (e.g. to move two adjacent articles in each column as two rows) into an adjacent container, whereby an article in the upper of two rows so transferred can be supported in the container on and between two articles of the lower row.

Preferably the transfer means is arranged to move the bottom articles in each column longitudinally as rows (e. g. to move the bottom two articles in each column as two rows), the said support means being arranged to sup port the columns so that the bottom substantially horizontal row contains the bottom article in each column. The rod-like articles may be received between vanes from above, for example, the rod-like articles may be fed between the vanes from a hopper by allowing them to drop from the bottom of the hopper. The support means may comprise a substantially horizontal fluted base plate, the bottom article of each column being located in a flute of the base plate.

The support means and the vanes may be arranged so that the axes of adjacent rod-like articles in a row transferred into the container are separated by a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the articles multiplied by the square root of three, whereby an article in the uppermost of three rows, one directly above another, in the container can rest centrally on and between two articles in the middle row and in contact with an article in the lowermost of the said three rows. 1

Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, and

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line IIII of FIGURE 1, drawn to a larger scale.

Referring to FIGURE 1, cigarettes C are fed transversely of their axes by conveyor bands 1 and 2, passing respectively about rollers 3 and 4, into a hopper 5. The bands 1 and 2 are catcher bands leading from a pair of cigarette making machines, and are moved in the direction shown by the arrows on the rollers 3 and 4. Inside the hopper 5 is an element 6, extending across the width of the hopper and carrying bars 7 arranged transversely thereto so that they extend in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIGURE 1. The element v6 is reciprocated horizontally by means of a rotating cam 8 which acts against a roller 9 mounted on the element. The bars 7 are thus reciprocated horizontally, transversely of their axes, and act to distribute and align the cigarettes C as they drop through the hopper so that their axes are substantially perpendicular to the plane of FIGURE 1.

The cigarettes C, dropping through the hopper 5, are received between a series of substantially parallel, downwardly sloping vanes 10. Guide members 11, parallel to the bars 7 and of rectangular cross-section, which oscillate about an axis along their length, are provided to guide the cigarettes into the channels formed between the vanes 10. The cigarettes thus fed between the vanes 10 from above form columns which are supported by a substantially horizontal base plate 12 having flutes 13 in its upper surface, the bottom cigarette in each column being located in a flute 13. As can be seen in FIGURE 1, the cigarettes C in the columns thus supported form substantially horizontal rows (only three rows being shown in FIGURE 1), the bottom row containing the bottom cigarette in each column.

Referring also to FIGURE 2, a reciprocating pusher 14, having fingers 15 which can pass between the vanes 1% is moved forwardly (to the left as viewed in FIG- URE 2) to engage the bottom two cigarettes of each column (i.e. the cigarettes in the bottom two rows) and push them longitudinally as rows into'an adjacent container in the form of a tray 16 having an associated back plate 17 which the ends of the cigarettes thus pushed abut. The pusher 14 constitutes transfer means to transfer the cigarettes in two adjacent rows (the bottom two rows) longitudinally into the tray, and a cigarette in the upper of the two rows so transferred is supported. in the tray on and between two cigarettes of the lower row.

The tray 16 is carried on a support 18 which is mounted on endless movable chains 19, part of one of which is shown in FIGURE 2. On the return of the pusher 14 (as it moves to the right as viewed in FIGURE 2), the cigarettes C contained between the vanes 10 fall a distance equivalent to two rows, so that the bottom cigarette in each column is located in a flute 13 and so that a further two rows of cigarettes are positioned in front of the pusher 14. The support 18 is moved downwardly by the chains 19 to lower the tray 16 a distance corresponding to two rows of cigarettes, and the pusher 14 then operates again to push the cigarettes in the said further two rows into the tray so that a cigarette in the lower of the said further two rows is received and supported in the tray on and between two cigarettes in the upper of the proceding two rows.

The operation is thus continuously repeated, the pusher 14 operating to periodically transfer the bottom two cigarettes in each column, as two rows, into the tray 16, which latter is lowered on its support 13 by movement of the chains 1? after each operation of the pusher 14.

The vanes 10 are spaced apart by a selected distance and inclined at a selected angle to the vertical so that the axes of adjacent cigarettes in a row transferred into the tray 16 are separated by a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the cigarettes multiplied by the square root of three, the spacing of the flutes 13 in the support plate 12 being arranged so that the cigarettes in the bottom row are thus spaced.

By this arrangement, a cigarette in the uppermost of three rows, one directly above another, in the container, can rest centrally on and between two cigarettes in the middle row and in contact with an article in the lowermost of the said three rows, in a manner more fully described in copending United States application Serial No. 225,213. The base of the tray 16 is fluted so that the cigarettes in the bottom row contained therein retain the required spacing, as described in the above-mentioned application.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Apparatus for feeding rod-like articles in which rows of the rod-like articles are formed for transfer into an adjacent container, each row containing a desired number of articles and running transversely to their axes, comprising a series of substantially parallel downwardly sloping vanes spaced apart by a selected distance and inclined at a selected angle to the vertical, means to feed rod-like articles between the said vanes so as to form columns of articles, means to support the said columns so that the articles therein form substantially horizontal rows, means to support a container at a position at which the container can receive adjacent rows of articles moved from between the said vanes, and transfer means to move the articles in adjacent rows longitudinally into a container thus supported, the said distance and the said angle being selected so that the axes of adjacent rod-like articles in a row transferred into the container are separated by a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the articles multiplied by the square root of three, whereby an article in the uppermost of three rows, one directly above another, in the container, can rest centrally on and between two articles in the middle row and in contact with an article in the lowermost of the said three rows.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 688,284 12/1901 Bilgram et al 53-151 X 1,487,019 3/1924 Lopez 53-151 X 1,539,745 5/1925 Kerlin et al. 53-149 X 2,919,529 1/1960 Hillman 53-245 X 3,106,282 10/1963 Schrnermund 53-152 X- FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

P. H. POI-IL, Assistant Examiner. 

